T/N: Sorry for the wrong chapters... again... This is the only novel that I always gets things wrong, for any fucking reason.
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And almost in that instant, Kakeru realized he had been anticipated again.
But he still held Kayoko's phone in his hand.
Beep! Beep!
He opened the contacts and dialed a number. A sound came from the pocket of Houtarou's uniform jacket.
"Don't harbor any delusions. This is Karuizawa's phone." Houtarou calmly took out the phone from his pocket and said, "I already knew you were targeting her. Probably wanting to discover my weaknesses or something. So I borrowed her phone in advance.
And yesterday, I was the one who replied to you using her phone. She doesn't know that Ishikura has betrayed her."
Kakeru: "..."
Doesn't this mean he was seen through from the beginning? Was it because of Shiho after all?
Because he had been a bit cowardly on his end and hadn't completely prevented her from leaking information to Houtarou.
"Looks like we'll have to fight it out." Kakeru said.
Even though the plan had failed, he didn't think it would end just like this. Otherwise, that guy wouldn't have brought a tool with him.
That's right. He noticed that Houtarou was carrying a grip strengthener in his left hand, which was used in physical education classes and for testing physical fitness.
"Oreki, your grip strength is pretty good, right?" Kakeru said, "Let me guess how much your grip strength is, 60 or 80kg?"
He had felt completely seen through, but now... He seemed to have found a blind spot.
Which was: If he was here to fight, why would Houtarou bring a grip strengthener? This couldn't be used as a weapon.
In other words, could it be that his real intention wasn't to fight, but to intimidate or... gather incriminating evidence against them?
Was it like this again?
Kakeru had been trapped by this pattern several times already.
"...Hehe...hahahaha—"
Thinking of this, he burst into laughter, almost to the point of tears.
"Almost got fooled by you. Ibuki, don't just stand there, search him quickly! Didn't he want to beat me up? I'll take him on. If he wants to fight, let's fight! But first check if he has any voice recorders or phones on him." Kakeru said with a stern face, "Starting with outside the door!"
"Outside?" Daichi came to help, but he was confused.
"Albert opened the door just now, right? Who knows if he tricked Albert and deliberately left a voice recorder or something outside." Kakeru said.
"That seems too far-fetched..."
Daichi thought this was exaggerated, but when he opened the door, he found a red pen-like voice recorder on the first step.
"...There really is a voice recorder..." He picked it up in surprise.
The recorder was actively recording.
Kakeru: "..."
Kakeru and Mio both stared at Houtarou, who maintained his polite demeanor.
The surprised Daichi immediately checked the steps outside the door and found another voice recorder on the handrail — two voice recorders now.
At this point, everyone understood that Houtarou's intention to fight might be fake. His real goal was to record their admissions about targeting him or Kei and then report them to the Student Council.
Kakeru's operation was once again against the rules, which meant they'd face serious risks if reported.
As for Mio, although she felt that Kakeru's constant rule-breaking would cause trouble for the class, she was already here on the rooftop. She still belonged to the class.
She couldn't let the class lose more points like this, so she had to try her best.
Therefore…
"...Let me check."
Mio stood in front of Houtarou.
"Excuse me." She said with an extremely cold expression.
Daichi's discovery of the voice recorders confirmed that Houtarou had come prepared — not just to record their plans against him or Kei, but perhaps to provoke them into taking action.
Since Kakeru already had a record with the Student Council, if he took action, he could be severely punished, even expelled. And because they were acting together, she would also face disciplinary action.
Had Houtarou thought this far ahead?
Mio had no choice but to conduct a thorough search.
Houtarou cooperatively opened his arms as her hands patted his body.
"I think, Ibuki, you'd be better off staying away from Ryūen." Houtarou said, "Although without advancing to Class A, you basically can't get the school's promises. But compared to the outside world, this school is tuition-free and you might even get living expenses. It's much better."
Mio: "..."
She paused for a moment.
"Ibuki, don't be fooled by him! If our current plan fails, we might all be expelled!" Kakeru, noticing her hesitation, quickly spoke up.
Mio had no choice but to continue her work, patting Houtarou's body more thoroughly.
But then—
"That tickles… I'm sensitive to tickling. You're touching too much." Houtarou said.
"Ibuki?" Kakeru sensed something was off.
"...I didn't do anything!" Mio's stern face reddened slightly, probably from anger to the point of spitting blood.
She quickly moved her hands downward.
"Voice recorder…" She found something strapped to Houtarou's calf.
Lifting his pant leg, she immediately discovered two voice recorders.
"..."
Staring at the discovered voice recorders, Kakeru and the others seemed somewhat dazed.
"Eh…" Houtarou sighed softly, "Ryūen, you've really become paranoid."
"That's because you're always using these little tricks!" Kakeru was about to spit blood, "You said you were here for a direct fight! With these four voice recorders, I don't believe you one bit! And now! Houtarou, welcome to the world of violence!"
Houtarou might be fast and have good grip strength, but fighting was Kakeru's specialty.
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Meanwhile, at the dormitory.
Masumi was brewing tea, steeping it twice to make it weaker before serving it. She found Arisu reading a book that Houtarou had borrowed yesterday.
This little princess was quite something. She often borrowed all the books that Houtarou had read.
Of course, this might be to find common topics of conversation, as she also often saw Kushida doing the same thing.
However, Houtarou seemed to have been studying psychology these past few days, as the book was called "Mind Techniques".
Arisu was reading the book, which had an open page stating that if you want to quickly defeat someone, destroy all their hope.
"It seems we won't be seeing Dragon Boy active next semester." Arisu said.
'Oh…' Masumi nodded inwardly.
Which meant… was Kakeru finished?
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T/N: whispers weakly I've... I've managed to translate three new projects on Patreon... JoJo Stand meets One Punch Man... Danmachi with countless otaku references... and a sword-wielding Marine in One Piece... I haven't slept in days... my coffee IV is running low... please... if you could spare just a moment to check the "About" section on Patreon... my translation fingers are getting so tired... every patron gives me the strength to continue... dramatic sigh I believe in you...
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